Five Lessons Sam and Jack Learned From Each Other
by JenniferJF
Summary: But which you won't find in any manual. S/J ship. Added second chapter from Jack's point-of-view because my beta told me I had to. Chapter one came to me suddenly out-of-the-blue. I blame both on the show for being so awesome.
1. Five Things Sam Learned From Jack

**Five things Samantha Carter learned from Jack O'Neill (but which aren't in any manual):**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was the most beautiful - the most _amazing_ - thing she had ever seen. The swirling vortex opened into infinity before her, all the mysteries of the universe contained in its depths.

She might have stood there forever, lost in the wonder of it. Trapped by her own awe… and her own fear.

He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her through.

**Lesson One: Sometimes, you just have to take that first step and **_**do it**_**.**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

She had no idea what to do. It certainly wasn't the first time this had happened, but it _was_ the first time with the fate of the world riding on her shoulders.

And she was stuck. Absolutely clueless. She'd been sitting in her lab for hours, staring uselessly at her monitor, completely unable, as the Colonel so eloquently put it, to pull one single useful idea out of her butt.

Then he came in and his only suggestion was to go eat cake. Which was absurd even though, eventually, they did.

The cake didn't help her solve their problem, of course. But sitting there in the commissary, the creamy chocolate frosting and soft cake filling her mouth as she watched the Colonel make some joke she wasn't even listening to but laughed at anyway, she suddenly realized something.

Sam still had no idea what to do, but, in that time and at that place, unbelievably, she was happy.

**Lesson Two: When all else fails, eat cake**.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_You're a National Treasure…_

The words rang in her ears. They tore at her heart. He hadn't meant it that way of course - hadn't meant to be cruel. She knew that, yet the words hurt all the same.

_National Treasure._

She didn't want to be a National Treasure. She didn't care how special she was to the mission, or to the nation, or to the world.

He had once loved her _- her _- Samantha Carter. Not because of what she could do, or all that she had accomplished, but because of who she was. She'd been special to _him_….

He'd once cared about her more than he was supposed to.

And she still knew he'd always be there for her. But not because she was _Sam_.

She might have been able to keep the universe from falling apart around them, but at that moment in his living room none of that mattered. None of that could fix her breaking heart. And suddenly, she wished she really were a national treasure because, maybe then, she wouldn't hurt quite so bad.

Monuments felt nothing.

**Lessons Three: Words can make you bleed.**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

She glanced across the short space which separated them and smiled at him. He smiled back with one of his own far too rare ones which she hadn't even known she'd been desperately missing until she'd started seeing them again just a few short days earlier. Because their defeat of the Go'uld and the death of her father had changed everything in ways she never would have imagined possible.

Turning back to the water, she cast her line out again. She'd never dreamed fishing could be fun. Certainly not as much fun as she was having right there, now, doing nothing but fishing. Fishing with _him_.

But then again, over the last few days, she'd been discovering that a lot.

There were many things which she'd found to be far, far better when done with him.

**Lesson Four: Fishing is fun… with the right person.**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"So, how was your meeting?" she asked when she had finished filling him in on the latest research to cross her desk at Area 51.

She could hear his impatience even over the phone. "Oh… You know… Same old, same old."

Unable to control the guilt which overcame her every time she realized - again - how miserable he really was in DC, she spoke without thinking. "I'm sorry…."

He sounded honestly confused. He always did. "For what?" he asked.

"For…" Her voice trailed off. Because, as selfish as it was, despite his frequent misery, she really couldn't make herself regret anything they had done.

He chuckled and, as if reading her thoughts, said, "I'm not."

"But…"

"Not for a minute, Carter. I'd rather be miserable here…"

She smiled into the phone. Because she knew the alternative as well as he did. They'd lived it, together but apart, for almost eight years. "Yeah… me too…" she admitted.

"So… Talk to you tomorrow." It wasn't a question.

"You'll know where to find me."

"Always. Love you, Sam."

"Love you too, Jack. Bye."

And, with a final "Bye," he hung up the phone. Severing the call.

But never the connection.

**Lesson Five: Love is being there, even when that means not being **_**there.**_


	2. Five Things Jack Learned From Sam

**Five Things Jack O'Neill Learned From Samantha Carter (which you also won't find in any manual):**

He was going to die. They were going to let him die… let the strange alien thing which had pierced his shoulder and pinned him to the wall infect him completely. Let it _kill _him.

He should have been terrified. But he wasn't because it was _her _plan and she was the smartest person he had ever known; she seemed to understand _everything_. And she believed this was the right thing to do, that it was the only way to save him…. To save them all.

He gripped her hand as she looked up at him, fear and self-doubt written across her face, and willed her to understand. To believe in herself as much as he believed in her.

Because if she thought it was the right thing to do… that he would be okay… that they all would be….

Then it was the right thing to do.

**Lesson One: Scientists aren't all bad.**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He'd thought he'd been safe. Really he had. But looking at her, the barrier between them as unassailable as it was invisible, he suddenly realized - to his absolute horror - just how wrong he had been.

She was going to die and there wasn't one damn thing he could do to prevent it. And there was no way he was going through that again.

He couldn't.

So he stood there unmoving, mere inches from her yet infinitely far away, knowing he was about to die. Watching the despair grow in her eyes as she realized it too… as she realized _why._

But he didn't care because he had no choice. He wouldn't live through that pain again.

He'd rather die.

**Lesson Two: Regulations don't keep you safe.**

-o-o-o-o-o-

He couldn't breathe. He could barely think.

Reaching out to touch it with one finger, he still couldn't believe it was real. That any of it could be real… That it could really be happening to him.

Yet he'd known it could. Expected it would… one day.

Just never… today.

_Pete's asked me to marry him._

Of course he had. Why on earth wouldn't he? Why on earth wouldn't _anyone_? Well… anyone who wasn't her commanding officer. Who'd never had to send her into danger or had to watch as she'd… Who had never known…

He pulled himself together and looked her square in the face.

It was better this way. Safer. Because he couldn't risk losing her. Not again.

So he let her go. Not that she was his anymore, anyway. Not that she ever even _had _been.

Except….

If that were true…

Then why was he suddenly certain death couldn't possibly have hurt more than seeing another man's ring on her finger?

**Lesson Three: You can lose something you never even had. **

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It wasn't the first time he'd stood out on the balcony long into the night and he was certain it wouldn't be the last. Yet as he gazed up into the star-filled sky he realized yet again just how vast it all was. How very great the distances really were.

Because she was out there, somewhere he knew vaguely was… there. Unfathomable light years away. And a piece of him was out there with her.

But that meant a part of her was also with him. A part of him _was_ her.

The best part.

And he wouldn't have had it any other way.

_Still_, he thought, looking upwards once again and imagining her looking back at him across the void, _It was a very, _very_ long way away._

**Lesson Four: Astronomical means really**_**, really **_**big.**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The phone made a satisfying _click_ as he replaced it in the receiver.

Very final.

Thank goodness.

He hated talking to bureaucrats on the phone almost as much as he hated speaking with them in person. And politicians… especially politicians looking re-election campaigns straight in the face… they were even worse.

Some days, especially when the pompous Washington suits he was forced to deal with were at their most bureaucratic and political, he actually found himself longing for a good old-fashioned Goa'uld to face down. At least shooting _them_ was always an option.

Still, at least that was done now. For the day. But he was certain tomorrow morning would bring it's own list of people he absolutely _must_ call. Grabbing his mouse, he brought back up his calendar to find what fun and games were on his plate for the remainder of the day.

His schedule was empty. And he was fairly certain it hadn't been when he'd checked it first thing that morning. Hell… He never seemed to have even an empty moment, let alone an entire afternoon. He hadn't changed anything either, which meant it had to have been his aid. Leaning forward, he reached for the button on his intercom to call Walter and demand an explanation.

"Hi, Jack."

Startled, he looked up to find her standing just inside his door. She was in civvies, wearing a dark blue sweater that set off her eyes over jeans which fit snugly in all the right places. Her smile eclipsed the sparkle of his ring on her finger and her hair fell in loose curls about her shoulders.

It was a full minute before he responded.

"Hey, Carter," he finally managed. Only, the_ Hammond_ hadn't been expected back till next week. "Not that I'm not… You know…" His voice trailed off. Words - at least, all the ones he was willing to say in uniform and in his office - were inadequate.

But she understood. She always did. "Me too…" she said softly. Then, her tone changing, she answered his unspoken question, "And emergency repairs…. The reticular…." She stopped herself, catching her lip in her teeth to keep from laughing. "Anyway, it's no big deal… But we're only going to be around for a few days."

A few days… His heart sank. Still, it was better than nothing. And suddenly, his newly empty afternoon made a whole lot of sense.

As did everything else.

**Lesson Five: Washington D.C. isn't the worst place in the universe.**


End file.
